Father Of Nigerian Lady Who Died In Cote d’ Ivoire Prison Seeks Buhari’s Intervention

Mr Abayomi Babalola, the father of the 24-year-old Nigerian lady who died in a prison in Cote ‘d Ivoire, Itunu, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to assist his family to get justice in the case.

He said this on Monday while speaking with journalists in Ibadan.

Babalola alleged that his daughter was killed, saying the autopsy report brought to Nigeria when his daughter was buried was doctored.

Babalola said he had been suffering from ill health since the sudden death of his daughter.

The bereaved father said the family wanted justice to assuage their feeling.

He said, “My daughter must not die in vain. I am still in shock over the death of my daughter. Though, the Chairman House Committee on diaspora, Hon. Tolulope Sadipe, has promised to take it up but I think the executive arm of government needs to do something about it also.

“We rejected the autopsy result because we suspected that the result has been doctored. I want justice. If our fellow African men are treating us this way, then we are doomed. The only thing that will give me and the entire family rest of mind is justice. I want justice for Itunu.”

Itunu’s apartment in Cote d’ Ivoire was said to have been burgled while she travelled to Nigeria and she immediately returned to the country when the news was broken to her on the telephone.

Upon her return to the country, she was said to have lodged a compliant with the police in Cote ‘d Ivoire but unkown to her the DPO in charge of the station is a relative of the suspected burglar.

The bereved father said his daughter rebuffed the suggestions of the DPO to pay her an equivalent of N100,000 to drop the case.

She was said to have been wrongly accused of human trafficking due to her insistence that the law must take it’s course.

She was jailed 20 years and when it was clear that she was wrongly jailed and there was hope for her to be released, she suddenly fell ill and died on November 24, 2021 and was buried on December 4 in Ibadan.

The father had in December 2021 written a petition to the House of Representatives on the death. He rejected the autopsy report .

He said in the petition, “Even though an autopsy had been carried out on her body in Cote d’Ivoire but the result is not acceptable to me. I still spoke with my daughter some five days before her death and there was nothing to suggest that she was sick as our communication mostly are through video calls.

“As an aggrieved father, I am calling on the Federal Government once again, through the instrumentality of the legislative process of the House, to look into the matter of the sudden and mysterious death of my daughter, Itunnu Babalola, my only girl, to ensure that she gets the due justice she deserves.

“I also want an inquest on her body to find out the cause of her sudden death.

“I also want her name to be cleared of the wrongful allegations levelled against her to be quashed.

” I equally want all those responsible for her incarceration which led to her painful death to be investigated and if found guilty to face the wrath of the law.

” Itunu was the breadwinner of the family and now she is no more, hence I will appeal for necessary support for the family.”